Mase Genset no water discharge

[trailertrawlerkismet]

A couple of weeks ago our genet stopped pumping water and a code E-82 came on the panel, which is for overheating. I immediately pulled the cover on the impeller, pulled it and found it to be in perfect shape so I reinstalled it. I took the sea strainer apart and found the screen was covered with jellyfish residue so I cleaned the screen but when I opened the valve no water came into the sea strainer bowl. With the seacock closed and the sea strainer cap off I ran fresh water into the bowl while starting the genset and water came thru the overboard discharge. This told me I had no obstruction from the sea strainer to the overboard discharge. I opened the seacock back up but no water came thru therefore I isolated the obstruction area that was preventing water flow. I then closed the seacock and unscrewed the two screws that hold the complete sea strainer assembly to a piece of starboard. This freed the unit up enough I could then be able to take the incoming and outgoing black water hoses off of the sea strainer base. With the base disconnected from the two hoses I opened the seacock and water flowed freely which told me the black plastic sea strainer base was clogged and not letting the water flow freely. With the base off I flush both inlet and outlet sides with high pressure water, freeing the obstruction and then I reinstalled the unit and my Genset was back in operation.

I like to fix things myself, if I can, and save the expense of a mechanic visit to my boat. In the case of my clogged genset sea strainer I've tried to provide anyone who might experience a similar situation some trouble shooting steps, to either save a few bucks for us do it yourselfers or if not mechanically inclined to provide some guidance for your mechanic.

 

[DBBRanger]

Thanks for the write up. This kind of troubleshooting is always interesting reading.

It all sounds matter-of-factly but I'm trying to picture you getting into position to do all that - you must have exceptionally long arms and exceptionally long patience!

Good work!

Doug

 

[swillmerchant]

Yes, thanks for the posting. I haven't thought that the base might be clogged, and will look into that next time I'm aboard. My main problem is the intake being plugged up. I've scraped the hull twice this season. I'm considering installing an external intake screen on the bottom of the boat similar to the one on the intake for the main engine sea strainer. That might keep some things out, but would make it a pain to clean during the season. Thoughts on this?

 

[Todd]

If you change the hull fitting for the ge set be sure it will not act as a scoop while underway. This would force water into the generator exhaust and potentialy into one of the cylinders perhaphs causund serious dammage when you atempt to start it.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Doug asked if I had long arms in order to reach everything. I don't, however I stood inside the engine compartment at the back of the engine, making my access to the sea strainer much easier. Also a couple of additional notes. If you look closely at the sea strainer for the Genset there is a thin cylinder wall inside of the exterior wall of the sea strainer base. The inflow of water comes up the inside of this wall and then has to pass thru the sea strainer screen and then down into the center of the strainer base to exit. My sea strainer was clogged somewhere between the intake and this interior cylinder wall and therefore the reason it needed to be disassembled to be flushed out.

The one thing I forgot to mention is that my fix was a combination effort. Combination in that after I checked that the impeller was in good shape I received the hose nozzle idea for creating high water pressure from a fellow Tugnut and it was Ivan's idea, from the Kent factory, to actually take the sea strainer off for better access and proper cleaning. This is one of the benefits of the Ranger Tug community.

Jim

 

[bbrh842]

Todd is correct. The Mase installation manual says DO NOT install a scoop on the water inlet for the generator. It does not go into the datail as to why. I presume, as Todd states, when the generator is not running, water could be forced into the unit by the forward motion of the boat, flooding the engine.